Priya Kumar (born 4 March 1974) is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

motivational speaker and writer. She is an author of 17 books including novels and

self-help books A self-help book is one that is written with the intention to instruct its readers on solving personal problems. The books take their name from '' Self-Help'', an 1859 best-seller by Samuel Smiles, but are also known and classified under "self- ...

. Her works mainly deal with inspirational and spiritual themes. Her book ''License to Live'' (2010) was nominated for

Vodafone Crossword Book Award The Crossword Book Award (formerly known as the Crossword Book Award (1998–2003), the Hutch Crossword Book Award (2004–07), the Vodafone Crossword Book Award (2008–10), the Economist Crossword Book Award (2011–13), Raymond & Crossword Bo ...

in 2010. In 2019, her novel '' I Will Go with You'' (2015) was adapted into

web television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as films and television series, streamed over the Internet. Standing in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable te ...

series '' The Final Call'', starring

Arjun Rampal Arjun Rampal (born 26 November 1972) is an Indian actor and model who mainly works in Hindi films. He made his acting debut in Rajiv Rai's romance film ''Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat'' (2001) and has since gone on to Arjun Rampal filmography, act in ...

Sakshi Tanwar Sakshi Tanwar is an Indian actress and presenter, who primarily works in Hindi films and television. Tanwar is considered among the highest-paid television actresses in India. Tanwar is widely recognised for her portrayal of Parvati Agarwal in ...

, and

Javed Jaffrey Syed Jaaved Ahmed Jaffrey (born 4 December 1963) is an Indian actor, dancer, and comedian who has appeared in Hindi films and television shows. He is the son of the comedian Jagdeep. He joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in March, 2014 and cont ...

Early life

Priya Kumar was born on 4 March 1974 in

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. She took her schooling at St. Kabir Public School, Chandigarh. She graduated from the

University of Bombay University of Mumbai is a public university, public List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, state university in Mumbai. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest univ ...

in economics, and obtained master's degree in

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...

and counter selling. She later done her post-graduation in marketing and sales from NMIMS university. She started her career as a motivational speaker at the age of 22.

Works

Priya is an author of 17 books. Her works mainly deals with inspirational and spiritual themes. In 2010, she published her first book ''License to Live'', a

self-help Self-help or self-improvement is "a focus on self-guided, in contrast to professionally guided, efforts to cope with life problems" —economically, physically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. When ...

book with spiritual theme, which she termed as 'inspiration thriller' and 'spiritual fiction'. It won the

Eric Hoffer Award Eric Hoffer (July 25, 1902 – May 21, 1983) was an American philosopher and social critic. A conservative moderate with an atypical working-class background, Hoffer authored ten books over his career and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Fr ...

in 2012. It is a collection of fictionalized

fables Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse (poetry), verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphized, and that ...

with first person narration. Her next book ''I Am Another You: A Journey To Powerful Breakthroughs'' was published in the same year and became bestseller. It deals with the themes such as

self-realization Self-realization is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology, and spirituality; and in Indian religions. In the Western understanding, it is the "fulfillment by oneself of the possibilities of one's character or personality" (see also ...

and

shamanism Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

. It narrates Priya's experiences with shamans tribe, an ancient traibal group in

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. ''I Am Another You'' was shortlisted for the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize Award. Next year she published her novel ''The Perfect World''. In 2014, she wrote biography of

Om Prakash Munjal Om Prakash Munjal (26 August 1928 – 13 August 2015) was an Indian businessman, poet and philanthropist. He was the founder and chairman of Hero Cycles, the world's largest integrated bicycle manufacturing company by volume and Hero Motors, ...

, an Indian businessman and founder of

Hero Cycles Hero Cycles Limited, based in Ludhiana, Punjab, is an Indian company that manufactures bicycles and bicycle related products. Pankaj M Munjal is the chairman and managing director of Hero Cycles. History Hero Cycles was established in 195 ...

, under the title ''The Inspiring Journey of a Hero''. Written in the style of self-help book, it narrates Munjal's life journey with motivational approach. The book covers Munjal's major aspects of life including his early life, partition, and handling his bicycle company. It was published by

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

in 2014. Writers

Alice McDermott Alice McDermott (born June 27, 1953) is an American writer and university professor. She is the author of nine novels and a collection of essays. For her 1998 novel '' Charming Billy'' she won an American Book Award and the U.S. National Book Aw ...

Sunday Tribune The ''Sunday Tribune'' was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to ta ...

and P. P. Ramachandran in

The Free Press Journal ''The Free Press Journal'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper that was established in 1928 by Swaminathan Sadanand, who also acted as its first editor. First produced to complement a news agency, the Free Press of India, it was a s ...

reviewed the biography and praised for its inspiration portrayals of Munjal. It was translated into

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

under the title ''Ek Super Hero Ki Shandaar Kahani'' (2015). In 2015, Priya Kumar published a biography of Mr. Subhasish Chakraborty, the CEO of Desk to Desk Courier & Cargo (DTDC) called Dream Dare Deliver: The Inspirational Journey Of Subhasish Chakraborty And The Making of DTDC. In 2015, she published

suspense thriller Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

novel '' I Will Go with You''. Its plot follows a pilot of flight, who decides to commit suicide while on board. Instead of dying alone, he chooses to endanger the lives of 300 passengers of the flight and dies in mid-air along with them. It deals with several themes including

afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...

karma Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...

, mortality and spirituality. ''I Will Go With You'' became bestseller, and was adapted into 2019

series '' The Final Call'', starring

. In April 2019, Priya announced that she is writing the second season of ''The Final Call''. In 2016, she released a spiritual thriller novel titled The Calling: Unleash Your True Self (2016). This story follows a man overwhelmed by life's challenges who embarks on a transformative journey to the sacred site of Hemkund Sahib to rediscover himself. In 2017, Priya Kumar released the self-help title How to Write a Book in 8 Days. In January 2019, ZEE5 announced another web-series adaptation of her book ''The Wise Man Said'' (2017). In 2019, Kumar published another self-help book titled Turn the Tables: From Challenges to Opportunities. This book features 28 chapters, each presenting unique stories and valuable life lessons for readers. Priya Kumar published Man Hunt (2020), a thriller set in India's Nagarjuna Tiger Reserve. The narrative explores the themes of loyalty and love between a man and an animal, addressing issues of environmental conservation, animal cruelty, and deforestation. In 2021, Kumar released My Little Book of Love, a collection of inspiring quotes and reflections designed to encourage readers to pause and reconsider their perspectives on life. In the same year, Priya Kumar published the biography of Olympic

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

coach

Pullela Gopichand Pullela Gopichand (born 16 November 1973) is an Indian former badminton player. Currently, he is the Chief National Coach for the India national badminton team. He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001, becoming the second ...

, titled Shuttler's Flick: Making Every Match Count (2021). This book chronicles Gopichand’s journey from being the number five badminton player to becoming a master coach, detailing his experiences training some of the top badminton players in India and around the world. Kumar released A Regal Man: The Life & Lessons of Vasu Shroff (2021). This biography illustrates how he transformed a single shop in Dubai into a multi-billion-dollar empire, further solidifying Kumar's reputation as a biography specialist. In 2023, Priya Kumar published a novel titled Millionaire’s Island, which explores themes of corporate success and spirituality. The story follows a man who journeys to Millionaire’s Island to learn how to become a millionaire but faces various challenges before completing the program. This book focuses on self-discovery and personal truth. In 2024, Kumar released a biography of A.M. Naik, the magnate behind Larsen and Toubro, titled A.M. Naik: The Man Who Built Tomorrow. This biography highlights A. M. Naik's significant contributions to transforming L&T into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise.

Publications

* ''License to Live: A Seeker’s Journey to Greatness'' (2010) * ''I Am Another You: A Journey to Powerful Breakthroughs'' (2010) * ''The Perfect World: The Journey to Infinite Possibilities'' (2011) * ''Thinking Aloud: A Collection of Original Inspirational Quotes'' (2013) * ''The Inspiring Journey of a Hero'' (2014) * '' I Will Go with You: The Flight of a Lifetime'' (2015) * ''Dream, Dare, Deliver: The Inspirational Journey of Subhasish Chakraborty and the Making of

DTDC DTDC Express Limited, trading as DTDC (short for Desk to Desk Courier & Cargo) is an Indian courier delivery services company, headquartered in Mumbai. History In 2012, DTDC acquired a 52 percent stake in Eurostar Express of Eurostar Group in t ...

'' (2015) * ''The Calling: Unleash Your True Self'' (2016) * ''How to Write a Book in 8 Days'' (2017) * ''The Wise Man Said'' (2017) * ''Turn the Tables: From Challenges to Opportunities'' (2019) * ''Man Hunt'' (2020) * ''My Little Book of Love'' (2021) * '' Shuttler's Flick: Making Every Match Count'' (2021) * ''A Regal Man: The Life & Lessons of Vasu Shroff'' (2021) * ''Millionaire’s Island'' (2023) * '' A.M. Naik: The Man Who Built Tomorrow'' (2024)

References

External links

Official website
* {{authority control 1974 births Living people 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers Indian women screenwriters Indian thriller writers Indian women novelists

Early life

Works

Publications

See also

References

External links